Ginger and lemongrass crème brûlée

Many of you will associate ginger and lemongrass with savoury Thai dishes, but this works wonderfully in a crème brûlée. The trick is to infuse the cream, but not for too long, otherwise you end up with both ingredients overpowering the dish. This dish came about many years ago when I was training as a chef at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London. We were making creme brulee during one of the classes as a dessert and the main course that we happened to be making was Thai influenced. We were asked to make a flavoured brûlée, so seeing the Thai ingredients to hand I decided to go for the less obvious option but one I thought would work well.

300ml cream1 stick lemongrass1 inch ginger thickly sliced100g caster sugar4 egg yolksAdditional 20g caster sugar for the bruléePlace the cream in a pan on a moderate heat, add the ginger and lemongrass and infuse for 5-7 minutesIn a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar till frothyRemove the ginger and lemongrass from the creamSlowly add the warm cream to the egg and sugar and mix togetherStrain the egg and cream mixture and decant into 4 ramekinsPlace the ramekins into a baking dish and fill the dish halfway up with boiling water (bain marie)Place in a moderate oven at 160 celsius (fan) 170c (normal) for 20 minutes or until a skin has formed and there is a slight wobbleOnce cooked allow to cool and place in the fridge to set for a few hoursTo serve sprinkle the sugar over the tops of the brûlées and either heat with a blow torch till the sugar starts to brown or if you don't have a torch just place under a hot grill to quickly brown the sugar